Not Just Another VictimRewrite
by Whatsername Stardust
Summary: This is a rewrite/expansion of my other Criminal Minds story. This is much better, I think, but the other will remain up.  Spencer invites an old friend to the team. What happens when she's targeted?
1. Chapter 1

"We need someone new for the field team. Someone tech savvy, who can help out Garcia by knowing what she needs to do back here, but with the training to be out helping find unsubs. I've got the head looking for someone, but I just wanted you all to know we're gonna have a new member." Hotch looked at the crew gathered around the table. It would be strange, adding a person to the tight knit team.

"I think I might know someone, actually" Reid piped up. Hotch looked at him in surprise. Spencer Reid was the last member he thought would have any sort of connection.

"Who?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Someone I went to school with. She works with a police department out in California, but she's been looking for a new job. I spoke to her for the first time in months just the other day. She wanted to use me as a reference for her resume, since we were close back at the university and I hold a similar position to the kind she's looking for."

"Can you call her, and have her fax in her resume?"

"Sure." Reid flipped his phone open, scrolled through his contacts and hit dial "Hey, Macy?...Yeah, it's Spencer… I was wondering if you could fax your resume to my unit leader…. Yeah, I can text you the fax number…. Okay, I'll let you know it goes through…. Sure. I'll talk to you later." He shut it and turned to Hotch "She's faxing it over once I send her the number."

A few minutes later, several sheets of paper came spitting from the fax machine. Hotch picked them up and skimmed them, including Reid's letter.

"You think highly of this…Macy James."

"She has a brilliant mind."

"She's extremely well qualified. I say we fly her out, try her with the team for a week, and if she works, and wants the position, she stays. Sound good to everyone?" The team members nodded in agreement. "You'll let her know, Reid?"

"Of course. Should I tell her to book a hotel and a flight?"

"No. The department will put up the money. In fact…" he clicked a few buttons on the screen "Tell her her flight leaves tomorrow morning at six thirty, from Oakland International, via Jet Blue. I've had the confirmation sent to the email on her resume."

"Alright. Oh, if you book her a room? Find a pet friendly hotel. She travels with a cat, it's her anxiety pet." Hotch raised his eyebrow yet again, but nodded.

"Meeting adjourned, everyone. Go home. Sleep. I don't care." Hotch waved everyone out the door but JJ walked towards him.

"Wouldn't have expected that from Reid of all people, eh?" she asked.

"Yeah. But she seems like just what we need."


	2. Chapter 2

Back at his apartment, Spencer called up Macy and told her the news.

"So Hotch is booking you a room, and paid for your ticket."

"Did you tell him to book a pet friendly hotel? I can't leave Persephone home.'

"Yeah, I did."

"Thanks, Spence. Alright, I'll make sure I have enough cash for a cab or a rent a car. I'm not having my car shipped until it's all set."

"If you want I could pick you up?"

"Sure. Alright. See you tomorrow, Spence."

"Bye, Macy."

Spencer, hands white knuckled on the wheel, pulled into the airport lot the next day. He hated driving, but he knew Macy hated talking to strangers and he wanted to not force her to take a cab, and be stressed before meeting the team. Pulling into the first space he saw, he walked into the baggage claim. If Macy looked anything like she used to, she'd be easy to spot.

And she was. Spencer spotted her small stature and flaming red hair. He walked towards her, she turned around when she heard footsteps.

"Hey, short stuff!" she said jokingly at Spencer, who towered over her.

"Hey, Macy. Got everything?"

"Yup. Can we drop my stuff off at the hotel before we hit the meeting? I don't want to leave Persephone alone in a car for too long." She lifted the cat carrier containing a mewling calico as reference.

"Sure. Hey," he said pointing to her ear, "that's new, from last time I saw you anyway."

"Oh, the bar? Yeah, I've had it about a year" she ran her index finger over her industrial.

"You've just got to be different" he laughed as he unlocked the car.

"You're one talk, Smarty Pants." She put Persephone and her bags in the backseat, slid into the passenger's seat, and they took off for the hotel and the meeting.

"Ready?" Spencer asked as they walked through the main door to the building.

"As I'll ever be." While they road to the office, she used Spencer's car's mirror to switch her industrial bar to a clear retainer, and put flesh plugs in her stretched ears, to make them less obvious.

As they entered the room Hotch walked up and extended a hand.

Hello, Ms. James. I'm Agent Hotchner, the unit leader." She shook his hand firmly.

"Hello, Agent Hotchner. Macy James at your service."

"These are our team members. Get to know them on your own time. We just got a case, so you get to go straight to work."

Hotch briefed everyone on a case they'd just received. Three women dead, seemingly typeless other than all being white, and of similar body types. But because they were all relatively average in appearance, no one thought much of that. None had the same hair color. They were found over the course of four days, in crude coffins in an orchard in a rural part of the state. They were packed in ice.

Garcia gave them what information she could, and came in to size up the new team member.

"Hey, I'm Penelope, but for the most part they call me Garcia."

"Hi, I'm Macy."

"So what did you do in a police department that allowed you to look like that?" Garcia quirked an eyebrow at the red head's bright hair and spiky cut, the industrial bar, the stretched ears.

"Desk work. Mainly computer stuff. Finding files, surveillance tapes, that sort of thing. I did field work when they needed someone who could work with technology on site, like getting into encoded files on people's PCs. I'm combat trained though. My aerodynamics help" she laughed, referencing her small stature.

"So you're pretty tech savvy. Ever do any hacking?"

"Only time I ever got in trouble. Hacked into the school PA system my senior year, because they were having some pro-war head honcho Army guy speak. I played "Imagine" on full volume instead."

"Hacking's how the FBI got a hold of me. What was your handle?"

"Well, it changed, but most of the time it had to do with bugs, usually scarabs. Plagueofscarabs and TheScarabPlague were the two I used the most."

"Whoa, I actually heard about you, back in the day. I was Poisoned Rainbow, or some variant thereof. Hard core, I know."

"Oh! I heard about the FBI snatching you up! You were quite the hot topic for awhile." She and Garcia grinned at each other. Macy sighed internally. Maybe this wouldn't be so scary after all.

Hotch came back in, carrying a few manila folders.

"This is all the info we have on each girl, so far."

"Do you have photographs of the victims?" Macy inquired.

"Both before and after death" he pushed the file towards her. She flipped it open and lined them up.

"What order were they killed in?"

"They're numbered. On the back." She looked, sorted them in order and stared. Spencer was reading through the case information.

"They suspect the unsub is mid twenties white heterosexual male, because all of the women have the same basic build. Small, easily overcome, hourglass physiques, very conventional in basic structure, varying in hair color, eye color, and from what the families say, personality." Spencer murmured.

"He's…collecting." Macy thought out loud.

"What?" Hotch asked.

" Think about it. They were killed within a day of the former, they were all in crude wooden boxes, buried within feet of each other somewhere easily located by the unsub, and they have similar builds with different defining features. Which means it could either be a young heterosexual male, or a very very sick and twisted socially outcast young woman."

"Why a woman?"

"There's a book about a murderess who kills women from her school who have something she wants. She kept them on ice, and kept their bodies as fresh as possible in order to eventually harvest their body parts." Hotch looked at her, unsure of their potential new member's insight.

"You know, she could be right. None of the woman have been assaulted, or butchered. And there didn't seem to be any trophies taken." Morgan offered up, giving the red head a reassuring look.

"Well, call up Garcia, I suppose. See if we can link them."

"Baby girl, it's me. Run the victim's names. See what high schools they attended and when they graduated. And email me ASAP… Okay thanks sweet cheeks." A few moments later he glanced down at his screen. "All graduated from Virginia Heights High School, and all graduated two years ago."

"Can you get transcripts?"

"Sure. I'll have Garcia on it right now."

"Okay." Hotch shouted. "Everyone go eat, and then come back., and we'll go inspect the crime scene"


	3. Chapter 3

Hours later, they were in the orchard, and Macy had taken the camera to every nearby house and was photographing license plates and car models.

Spencer and Morgan were looking in trees around the burial site, for clues or trophies, while Hotch and Prentiss inspected the bodies. JJ was keeping civilians at bay.

"We should be watchful. All this activity we're stirring up could panic the unsub, and while that would help us catch them, they could also kill sooner, or more, than normal. Even break hunting patterns." Morgan said slowly, as he rifled through the dirt under some tree roots.

"That's true. Should we set up surveillance in the area? Even if we can't catch a kill, we can get an ID from the burial maybe." Spencer furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I'll get some pin cameras from the car and set them up, then we should get going. We don't want to be on the unsub's turf after dark." He saw Spencer glance over at Macy "She's doing good. I think Hotch likes her. And if she's right about this profile, she'll be in for sure."

"She's a brilliant person. And she's got a good grip on the mind of a victim. Personal history."

"Huh?"

"Yeah…when we were in college, a professor of hers kept her after class, and instead of helping her with a paper, he um… he raped her. She was messed up for awhile. She really liked him. That's when I got her Persephone. As a therapy animal."

"How'd you two get to be friends? You're so…reserved, and she seems bubbly."

"We met our first year of university. It was pouring down rain, at the start of second term, and she walked past me on the way to a lecture hall. She had this massive rainbow umbrella. I'd forgotten mine. And she turned around and asked me where I was going. I told her, and she said since we were going to the same place, she told me to hold her umbrella, then we could both stay dry. And then we were friends, basically. She and I were so similar; we hit it off right away." Morgan nodded at him, and then left to his car to grab the cameras. He hid them in the trees and surveyed the team.

"It's getting dark." Morgan announced. "We should head back. Meet up again tomorrow. Bright and early." Macy walked back to the cars, handed the camera to Morgan, who clapped her on the back and nodded at her. She smiled back and walked towards Spencer, who gave her a quick sideways hug and opened her door, which garnered a few looks from the team.

"Do you think…" JJ turned to Morgan with a speculative glance.

"Anything is possible. Like attracts like. And her file said she was an Aspie, and we all wonder about Reid having Aspergers. Both are well read, well educated, both graduated early, both a little…weird."

They continued watching as the two drove away. Later, Spencer pulled into the hotel drive way. It was late, and most of the lights were off in the small hotel, which was made up of individual cabin type buildings.

"Good work today, Mace." Spencer smiled at her.

"Thanks, Spence."

"Morgan and Garcia both really like you. Of course, Morgan's opinion may very well be based on Garcia's."

"Are they…"

"Haha. No. Not yet anyway. They almost got together, after Garcia got shot, but then she started dating another tech guy, Kevin. They broke up though, and we all kind of assume it's a matter of time."

"You know, I've missed hanging out with you Spence."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Here'll walk you to the door." He got out of the car, and went inside for a minute, helping her settle her stuff. Persephone wound herself around his legs, reacquainting herself. He reached down and scratched her ears. He gave her a hug and a smile as he said good bye, and drove home for the night.

Spencer's phone rang about an hour later.

"Hello?"

"Spence, it's Macy" she was whispering "The same car has driven past my room four times in the past hour, at ten miles under the speed limit. I can't make out the plates, but the make, model and color look like one of the cars I saw by the orchard, roughly half a mile from the dump site. Gray, two year old Honda Civic. I would suspect simple sabotage but…" she gulped. "I fit the profile. Five foot two, thin, average breasts, average hips. And the unsub…. The unsub doesn't have a red head yet…" Spencer blinked, and his eyes widened. "Oh god, it's stalled. Oh god Spence someone is getting out and I can't run because they're too close. Ohgo" the phone cut off. Spencer immediately dialed Hotch, taking deep breaths and trying not to panic.


	4. Chapter 4

"Reid, it's one am, what is your problem?"

"The unsub, the unsub is after her."

"Who?"

"Macy! The same car, in the same make, model, year and color as one of the ones by the orchard has circled her hotel room four times since I dropped her off. And she meets the base physical description, and the unsub doesn't have a red head yet. And…and… the phone cut off while she was calling me, and the unsub had gotten out of the car. I have my gun, and I'm going over there now. I suggest you get the team together unless you want our new member dead and our unsub off scott free." Then he hung up. Realizing he was dead serious, Hotch called the others and headed to the hotel Macy was staying at.

Spencer walked quietly along the lines of the hotel property, after driving entirely faster than ever before to get there. The person Macy had seen was trying to pick the lock. Macy had turned all her lights out and closed the blinds. The unsub check the window for a lock. They were impatient. They turned to the car, he could see it was a woman now. She pulled a large post from her trunk and hit the door once, squarely, and it fell to the floor. Spencer was sprinting now, gun in hand. He saw Hotch and Emily's cars screetching into the lot but he kept running. He was at the door, and there she was, Macy. She was lying face down on the floor with the unsub's foot in her back.

"Get down, hands on your head, face on the floor, right now or I will shoot." Spencer's voice boomed out, more confident than general, though when he looked down at Macy his eyes were fearful.

"You make one move to shoot me, and she gets its. And believe me, it won't be fast or pretty." She drew a switch blade and flicked it open. Just then, Hotch and the others showed up behind Spencer, all armed.

"Reid, I got-" Hotch started to whisper but was cut off

"I got this one, Hotch. Let me do this. I got her into this mess so let me get her out." Spencer gave Hotch a look and then turned to the unsub again. 'M'am, we are FBI agents. You need to step away from the woman, get on your knees, lean on your elbows and put your hands on your head. Right. Now." He cocked the gun. The unsub threw the knife at a window and threw herself to the ground. Hotch dove for her, and cuffed her. Spencer ran over to Macy, pulled her off the ground, and looked her over for injuries.

"I'm so sorry, Mace. I should have never asked you to come out here. This is all my fault." He shook his head and looked down at her, his eyes apologetic.

"Spence, this isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for everything." Spencer surprised everyone then by grabbing her and hugging her tightly enough to lift her off the ground slightly.

'Thank goodness you're okay."

They all went to the station and Spencer hovered behind Macy the entire time until JJ pulled him away.

"Hey. She's important to you, huh?"

"She was my best friend at the university. We were in the same dorm, and we were both the awkward outcast types, and we struck up a friendship one day, on the way to class on a rainy day. We talked after we graduated, and I still consider her my closest friend. She was the first person I met that seemed to genuinely…understand me, I suppose. She helped me open up, I helped her. Her anxiety was bad, so some weekends I would just sit in her dorm room with her and calm her down. I was the one who figured out about anxiety animals, and helped her pick out Persephone. She helped me pull back when I babbled too much and just generally fit in better. We made a good team. That's why I offered her the job here. She's brilliant and intuitive and because I thought it would be nice, as much as I love all of you, to have a like mind around."

"What I wanna know, Spencer, is when you fell in love with her. I have never seen you take charge like that. You're always the good cop. But you would have shot that woman before she laid a finger on Macy."

"Hum. You would figure it out and have the guts to ask first. I guess… after we graduated. I was out here, she was in California, and I just felt like something was missing from my life. And one day I realized it was her."

Macy walked out a few seconds later, thoroughly shaken. She went straight to Spencer.

"I'm through being questioned. Hey. Spence? Can I…Can I crash with you? I don't really want to be alone at night right now…"

"Absolutely." He looked at her for a second before hugging her again. "We'll run by the hotel, check you out and grab your stuff."

He drove her to the hotel, keeping one eye on her. She bit her lip. He took one hand off the wheel and squeezed her hand.

"You'll be okay." He whispered. "You'll be okay." She nodded at him, but looked terrified at the same time.

He went with her into the room, placing his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. She gathered her things, scooping Persephone up off the bed and handing the cage to Spencer, so she could hold her cat.


	5. Chapter 5

In Spencer's apartment he sat her down on the couch and went into the kitchen. He dug around his cupboards until he found a bag of ramen, which was pretty much her number one comfort food. He put water on to boil, and poured a glass of milk. After the ramen was done, he brought that and the milk and set them in front of her on the coffee table. She took a spoonful of broth and smiled at him. She ate in silence for a few minutes, Spencer looked on her, concern in his eyes. She put the spoon down.

"You risked your own life for me, Spence."

"So did everyone on the team. It's what we do."

"No. You would have run in for me, back up or no back up. I could tell. And I want to know why. I've known you for years, Spence, and you have never been anything but a highly logical person, forever thinking things through."

"You want the absolute truth?"

"Yes." She looked at him expectantly. He ran his hands through his hair and breathed out shakily, closing his eyes. He looked up at her, obviously shaken and nervous.

"I'm in love with you, Macy. I realized it after we graduated. Life just seemed, incomplete without you in it. But I've never had a friendship as close as ours, so I wouldn't risk losing that. And when you could easily have been a few minutes from death I saw my life without a best friend, without the only best friend I've ever had, and it would be my fault you died, since this was all my idea. That couldn't happen. So I did what I could to stop it." Spencer looked down then, and fidgeted. He never was any good with girls. Macy looked at him, head tilted, brows slightly raised. "I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore."

"Oh, Spence. For someone with an IQ of 187, you can be a right idiot." She laughed.

"What?" he furrowed his eyebrows and started to talk again when Macy leaned forward and kissed Spencer.

"You should have figured that out ages ago." She whispered "You profile victims for a living."

"You were never just another victim to me, Mace. Or just another friend. You're the only person I've ever met who understands me."

And then he kissed her.

He drove her to work the next day, and, hesitantly, held her hand as they walked in. JJ smiled at him. Garcia laughed and clapped him on the back. Hotch looked puzzled at first, but grinned slightly.

Slowly, she became just another team member, though it was strange to see her with Spencer, or to go to Spencer's apartment and see her there, lying on his couch with her cat.

Of course, she was never going to be just another team member to Spencer.

She was, after all, the love of his life.


End file.
